Tóng fú tiě quàn 銅符鐵券
The Bronze Tally and Iron Charter
compiled by 彭好古 (Péng Hàogǔ, hào 一壑居士 Yīhè jūshì), dated 己亥仲夏 = mid-summer 1599
A late-Wàn-lì-era compendium of fúzhuàn 符篆 (talismanic seals) and jīndān operational formulas assembled by Péng Hàogǔ — the same Húběi inner-alchemy editor responsible for KR5i0029 Lónghǔ shàng jīng xuán jiě. The work takes its title from the legend (preserved in the Liè xiān zhuàn) that Lán Gōng 蘭公 of Qūfù, in cultivating filial piety, was visited by an Imperial Star Perfected styling himself Xiàotì wáng 孝悌王, who descended to his house and gave him a Jīn dān bǎo jīng 金丹寶經, Tóng fú 銅符 (bronze tally), and Tiě quàn 鐵券 (iron charter) — to be transmitted onward to Chénmǔ DānyángHuángtáng, and from her to the Perfected Lord Xǔ Xùn 許祖. Péng’s compilation re-presents the legend’s named scripture under the Tóng fú tiě quàn title and arranges it under the standard alchemical headings of sān yuán yào wù huǒ hòu 三元藥物火候 (“Three-Origin medicine-substance and fire-phasing”).
Prefaces
Title-poem (Péng Hàogǔ, 己亥 mid-summer 1599 / Yīhè jūshì). “Considering the Liè xiān zhuàn: Lángōng of Qūfù in his perfected cultivation of filial conduct stirred the Dòu zhōng zhēn rén (Dipper-Inner Perfected) to descend, calling himself the Xiàotì wáng. Coming down to his house, he gave him the Jīndān bǎo jīng, the Tóng fú, and the Tiě quàn, and ordered him to transmit them down to Dān yáng huáng táng Chénmǔ, who gave them to the Perfected Lord Xǔzǔ. — Now I view this book: it is laid out with sān yuán yàowù huǒhòu, every one provided, like a treasure-scripture for the seal-tally — though it has no fúquàn with it. — I have collected far afield the fúzhuàn numinous-texts and have spontaneously made it into volumes; I wished to add adjustments and corrections, but this book has been transmitted long, and I cannot wantonly disturb the immortal-scripture by my own will. So the book retains the fúquàn old name, and the fúzhuàn numinous-texts are placed afterward as a separate appendix to be referred to. — The various elixir-scriptures only speak the principle; they do not yet match this book’s directly-pointing-to-truth-formula, with no even the slightest taboo. Whoever heart-comprehends, having gained the formula, can establish the shéndān on the spot. The formula — how easily can one speak it? Of those seeking the formula by heart-attainment, nine in ten get it; of those seeking by mouth-attainment, five in ten; of those seeking by paper-attainment, none. — I have collected this book truly seeking the formula in paper; but later there will be one who, by way of this, will catch the fish-and-rabbit, and then it may yet not but be his bamboo-trap and rabbit-snare. — Jǐhài mid-summer, Yīhè jūshì titled.”
Abstract
A late-Wàn-lì compendium of inner-alchemical operational instructions framed under the legendary Tóngfú tiěquàn of Lán Gōng 蘭公 and Xǔ Xùn — i.e., located within the Jìngmíng zhōngxiào dào 淨明忠孝道 (Pure-Bright Loyalty-and-Filiality) tradition centred on Xǔ Xùn (cf. KR5i0041 Tài shàng líng bǎo jìng míng zōng jiào lù). The collection’s distinctive feature is its programmatic willingness to publish the operational formula in plain language, against the conventional alchemical rule of secrecy: Péng explicitly defends “the formula is sought by heart-attainment, nine in ten get it; by paper-attainment, none — yet I have collected it in paper, hoping that one student will catch the fish-and-rabbit and let go the bamboo-trap.” Composition dated jǐhài mid-summer = summer 1599, the same season as Péng’s preface to KR5i0029. The two are companion productions of his Húběi alchemical-editorial circle.
For Péng Hàogǔ’s broader project see 彭好古.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The alignment with the Jìngmíng zhōngxiào dào of Xǔ Xùn is deliberate: Péng presents inner-alchemical practice as the technical complement to the Pure-Bright tradition’s moral programme of zhōngxiào (loyalty-and-filiality), uniting xìngmìng cultivation with the family ethics of the Pure-Bright cult. This is a notable late-Míng synthesis.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5i0040
- Compiler: 彭好古.